Mysuru among 10 cities selected for initiative to woo reluctant urban voters to polling stations 

Mysore/Mysuru: Confused about your polling booth location? Unsure about the travel time to reach the voting station or concerned about potential traffic delays along the route? Worry no more! The Election Commission of India is set to introduce a QR code-based system to provide easy access to such crucial information on voting day. Each voter slip will feature a unique QR code, simplifying the process.

These voter slips will be hand-delivered to households and individual voters five to six days before the voting day. This marks the first implementation of such a system in Karnataka, with 10 cities, including Mysuru, being chosen for the project.

Manoj Kumar Meena, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka, informed reporters that the Election Commission plans to deploy voter slips with QR codes at select locations across India. In Karnataka, specifically, 10 cities have been identified for this pioneering initiative.

“If you scan QR Code on your mobile phone, it will navigate you to polling booth through Google Maps. It was used for the first time during the recent election for Legislative Council from Teachers’ Constituency in Bengaluru. This initiative helped increase the polling percentage from 66 percent in 2020 to 86 percent in 2024,” he said.

Many people, particularly in urban areas, struggle to locate their polling stations as they may not be familiar with government buildings, schools and other landmarks. To address this issue, the authorities are converting the latitude and longitude coordinates of the polling stations into QR codes and printing them on  the voter slips.

“This innovative initiative is aimed at increasing voter turnout by coaxing voters to participate in the electoral process. People often refrain from voting even in the face of minor disruptions. With QR code, they can easily scan and navigate the polling station. The initiative will cover 13,847 polling booths in 47 Assembly Constituencies under the jurisdiction of 10 City Corporations,” remarked Manoj Kumar Meena.